A grandmother's message in a bottle washed ashore after a decade at sea.

Vickie Stanton was digging for clams at Long Beach in Washington State when she found much, much more: an old green bottle that held a note from a woman halfway across the world.

The message was from a grandmother to her grandson who had been given up for adoption before she ever met him.

She had tossed the bottle overboard on May 28, 1994, while on a boating trip near the equator.

"The chances of finding something that's been out there for 16 years, it's just mind-boggling alone, let alone finding a note in a bottle," Stanton said. "I've gone to a lot of extent trying to find her, and it was really cool when we Googled and found her name. I mean I just had chills running up and down my spine."

The discovery has sparked a long-distance friendship. Stanton said she plans to send the bottle on to the woman's grandson.